Lonely Planet increases turnover in 2015

Lonely Planet has released its full-year results for the 2015, revealing a 6.7% growth in turnover from £16.1m (A$27.1m) in 2014 to £17.2m (A$28.9m) in 2015, reports the Bookseller. Operating profit before tax also grew by 63% over the same period from £391,000 (A$657,000) to £841,000 (A$1.413m). Lonely Planet director and chief financial officer Theodore Sathananthan said that one of the challenging areas for the publisher was the ‘fragile’ economies in its European markets. ‘A number of our distributors and key retailers have struggled over the last year, although there are signs that their order levels are rising and that optimism is growing,’ he said. Sathananthan also noted that consumer debt levels and unemployment remain high in certain markets, leading to lower-than-expected demand. ‘Nonetheless, we are seeing a growing appetite to travel, which has an impact on our performance within Europe … The company continues to focus on the needs of our core customers across any different territories and cultures and the board is confident that this strategy will continue to deliver results that meet our shareholders’ expectations in the years to come.’